Boris(the vampire) in the 2001 version is way better than 2021 version. They gave him a logical tragic story and a good build up to make him a more believable vampire. Seriously, what vampire will fight under sunshine? The sprit had a far better story too. He is a vampire hunter who bear the guilt for killing innocent people. So when Boris came to him seeking revenge, he accept it with relief and chose to serve Boris as an atonement. Not just because he's been tortured and fear his master.

Lyserg's introduction was 100% the same in the manga. Basically, Horohoro challenges Lyserg, because he was bragging, but when Horohoro starts to lose, Ren decides to help Horohoro beat him, even though Horohoro challenged and attacked first. But somehow manga/anime tries to make it seem like Lyserg in the wrong with Yoh being angry with Lyserg for no reason. Yes, he was bragging, but to be fair in their fight Lyserg backed up he's talk by beating both Ren and Horohoro. He was attacked and just fought back. Yoh should've been more disappointed in Horohoro and Ren for starting the fight and double teaming on just 1 guy and starting a pointless fight. That moment never made any sense to me.

You forgot to mention how cool the x law first appearance was in o.g when they appeared out of a beam of light.

I agreed about Lyzerg's character. I mean I feel like in the reboot version where he came out of nowhere and wants to join Yoh's team while in the original he tried to look for a really strong team. I think that gave him more fleshed out in his character even they made it into 2 episodes which it's perfect. The rest of the reboot got good since the start of the Shaman Tournament. By the way, are you planning to make a comparison between the 2 English versions (4kids vs Netflix dub)? I would love to hear your opinion!

The 2021 anime is faithful to the manga but the manga in itself had problems in its presentation to begin with. The main point of the manga goes from "human destroys nature, no shaman can be evil" to " you can't fight nature, nature is always right, Hao's spirit is nature so Hao's action are ultimately right, you're wrong to hate Hao, let's all be passive like Yoh" WHAT ?!!! The guy makes his spirit eat the soul of his victim to ANNIHILATE them ! My point is proven when we know who get to be Shaman king 😒...

If only the episodes got all the scenes from the manga, this might be bad because i never finished the manga series. Btw is it a thing for episodic tv shows to get some sort of directors cut like movies. I feel like it could fix the show. Just adding the scenes it didn’t include might help instead of harm

The anime definitely got better with pacing but I still say read the manga or watch the old anime

I have a question bro will you make more fma content ?

It’s bad. Really bad. If that’s what was in manga, then Shaman king sucks lol What good I can say about it? I liked Horo, he often seems like an only rational one, but everybody just bully him for it (like Chocolove btw). And they have a descent relationship with Ren, I remember they were at each other’s throats in first adaptation all the time, but here they feel like antisocial best friends duo, always teaming up and helping each other. Oh and I HATED Lyserg. All my life actually, that’s how powerful it was. I don’t really recall why (since I’ve been watching anime when I was a child lol) , but in this version he feels like a good guy with problems, he’s a complex character. Yeah. That’s it. Everything else was shit

You get to watch it, so I don't have to

So I can agree that not all events in the manga version of this arc are the best but I also have some episodes in the OG anime that I really didn't care. I do like what they did with Lyserg, to the point where I really dislike him as a person in that version. I actually think Lyserg's characterization was done better at the start for the type of plot 2001 would go down. The manga version is pretty different and a lot of issues might be resolved for some like you once you get the context for the rest of the story. In fact we're entering the part where I find the manga actually gets way better. Everything outside of a few moments like the Faust fight at the start of the series feels pretty one note and not very nuanced. I think the phrase "defining characteristics" fits very well for the second half. You really start to see what makes these characters different and what makes their characters "them". Takei really was growing as a writer and it's fascinating to see. With that said I expect some momnents people won't enjoy, but I find that in everything I consume and think it's pretty healthy. Feeling everything is perfect in a story puts too much of a high bar that some people become jaded before even trying it. Actually it's kind of cool when you look into the first anime how much more involved in the earlier portions Takei was. The anime was kind of his outlet to "fix" pieces of the story he might have thought needed improvement. With that said it seems as the mandates for Jump were just as strict as they are now, he basically had to put all his attention to the manga which eventually lead to his burnout that then lead to its original cancelation until he was able to finish the story later. Making this anime 52 episodes was still a poor decision and I feel for the staff that basically has to work in such strict guidelines. There really is no time for them to flex much creativity but they have been adding their own flair here or there for the visuals compared to the manga lately. I do look forward to these update videos so even if you hate the rest of the story going forward I'll be there to see you points. I also hope whenever you have time that you can read the manga to get some extra context and jokes that even with all the time in world no anime would be able to fit them all. Some of the side content in the volumes are my favorite stuff in the manga.

I stopped watching the Shaman King 2021 after the Faust fight and thanks to your reviews, I won't be watching the rest but probably gonna rewatch the old one.

The only good thing about 2021 is that it made me appreciate the original run even more. Terrible editing and stuff aside, I personally do not visually like the new art style. Everything just looks low budget and lazily done in my humble opinion. I thought (hoped) that this reboot will be a huge success (which SK deserves), so much so that once they are done with the original story they'll continue the anime with Flowers and The Super Star. But now I honestly don't want to see Flowers and The Super Star done in this style nor by this studio.

I really like the Shaman King 2021 show actually.But i bet the original was better.(i haven't watched the original sorry :(

That glowing sun face looks like a chibi Ed

This is kinda like FMAB case ig. The anime feels rushed because even though the old anime was great had too many pointless fillings and probably at this point lots of ppl know what Shaman King is so there is nearly no point in explaining everything but just the necesary part. Also probably they rushed these parts because the manga gets intense later on. Till this point the new version is quite accurate to the manga. I think you will enjoy more in the future episodes compared to now. I have very big nostalgic tie to the old anime and manga but I don't really have problems with this one, after all its a reboot doesn't necesarily need to be exactly the same as the old one.

The show is pretty rushed and the pacing is all over the place, but this Horohoro episode was pretty decent if you understand the Japanese-Ainu cultural references. For all its flaws, and there are many, Shaman King 2021 was one of the best anime at encomposing cultural diversity (in a non-woke way). It was really cool to see Horohoro's Ainu background portrayed so prominently.

After ep 3 I’m done. It’s overly self righteous that’s all I’ll say

I was raised on 2001 series.

As we have three versions of Shaman King, I'd have to break it to you, the old version makes Lyserg... So unbearable, everyone hates Luserg from 2001. The idea from the manga, which is more or less translated into the new anime, is that he isn't supposed to be like this crazy revenge guy, but rather a person who isn't aware of what his eternal goal truly is, he wants to kill Hao as a mean of revenge, but I don't want to spoil the rest of his story, starting next episode he will get some more spotlight and after that he'll have a talk with Yoh at one point which even more fleshed out his conflicted nature. Lyserg needs to grow, that's the idea. And like... The bear episode is like a 20x upgrade to the old anime version of the arc, it's meant to tell the story of how we as people aren't supposed to keep the nature safe at all consts, but rather to be a part of nature, so when they kill the bear, Horohoro asks them to take it and eat it, cause it's a cycle of life, if they didn't need the meat then they wasted a life for nothing. And yes, Horohoro is angry and getting pushed cause he wants to be a Shaman King, but he already knows just how much even his friends are above him, he is a character that didn't get Yoh to beat him with words but with fighting, so Horohoro never really accepted the carefree attitude, yes they are friends, but he doesn't like how carefree Yoh can be either. I do agree that some more traveling would've been fun, but not as long, nor as stretched as the old anime. There's one episode which I liked, which is the one where they joke around all episode and then Hao appears and burns all the spirits. And you said that you haven't read the manga even up to Lyserg's appearance if I'm not mistaken, which is not even 1/3 of the story. If you want to, give it a go. Cause it is the best medium to experience the story in, Hiroyuki Takei is a phenomenal artist.

Bro made 3 parts of this

Did you read the manga?

It's ironic really. The reboot its practically panel accurate to the Manga. Dissing the show is the same as dissing the Manga, but if it wasn't for the Manga you wouldn't get the 2001 Anime! It's a full circle :')

Because 2021 version follows the manga version not the 2003 anime version

Manga was shit anyways. Ending was not satisfying at all. The first tv show had more fights and a opened ending.